Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-07-02
WORkfHG WOMEN.
Mrs Barry, Of New York. speaks of the Hard
sbips of Female Labor

ssips of Female Labor.
Mrs. l.. NJ. Barry, OF Armsterdsm, y. y,
an auxiliary OF the General Assembly OF the
knights OF Labor, lectured the other night
at Pythan hall, Baltimore, under the au-
spices of District Assembly IL, OF Bslti.
more She said:
ave have institutions for charitable pur-
poses with names al most a. long a. eternity
We have organizations for the prevention Of
cruelty to animals, but none for the preven.
ton OF cruelty 10 humanity. And the 900
women who make pants in New York for
and cents pair, whose homes ! have
visited in the eleventh stories OF houses
must work night, day and Sunday TO keep
their bodies aud souls together. ! knew of q
poor girl who was compelled to work in
Newark corset factory two weeks for nothing
and four weeks at pittsnce, which was
stolen from her by system of fines that LETT
her five cents for wages at the end of six
weeks labor. This girl WAS turned out OF
her boarding house into the street, and fell
into a life OF shame, changing her name NO
that her mother In Maine, whose support
she was, might never know her
degradation. You have all heard OF
the Harbour thread works in Pat
erson, \. j. There they have what Is called
wet spinning. Year in, year out women
stand in water on q stone slab II Dor, with
jet OF water pouring upon their breasts, and
wetting their clothing through From this
place they must go to their homes without
the weather, simply because no floor room
can be spared in which the operatives may
change their underclothing. II sp
peals to stop these wrongs came from
China or Farther India, subscriptions
would be at once started to send missiOna ries
to the heather. In Massachusetts, noted
for her institutions Of learning, are ninety
thousand illiterate minors. No, they are not
Dutch and irish, Dui American youths of
both sexes, who have been forced into fac.
tories to grow up stunted, useful bundles OF
machinery, and that Is all There the girl
children breath the lint aud fetd air when
they should be chasing the butterflies in the
open air OF heaven, and they grow up en-
tirely unit for motherhood or wifehOod. We
claim that labor creates all wealth, that
wealth belongs to these who create it, and
that prod II superior to cOnsumptiou,
This Is our political economy. The ecOno-
mist on the other side says, An, there In
natural wealth. > Well, how much would
you enjoy OF 1t II labor did not dig 1t out OF
the earth? We say that the non- producers,
absorb that share which belongs 70 the pro.
ducers, and we prove 1t by your statistics,
for among sixty millions OF population We
have but seventeen millions OF wage. workers.
We hope to correct the evils by legislation
and cooperation. The two political parties
for twenty-five years have at election times
longed TO grasp the horny hand OF toll, but
have not tried TO stop the bribery and cor.
ruptiOn that obtains in the legislative halla a
In conclusion, Mira Barry said that In com.
psrison with cities OF equal size where she
had made Investigations into the condition
OF working women, Baltimore was Q para.
disc.